Warrego Highway between Toowoomba and Oakey widened to four lanes

Work has been completed on widening around six kilometres of the Warrego Highway between Toowoomba and Oakey in Queensland, significantly improving safety and efficiency.

“Widening the highway from two to four lanes provides the additional capacity required to handle the expected continuing increase in traffic volumes west of Toowoomba to Charlton,” said Federal Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Darren Chester.

“In addition to supporting future economic growth in the region, this project created over 200 jobs during the construction phase.

Queensland Treasurer Curtis Pitt said the projects would keep the state moving and contribute to economic growth.

"This section of the highway carries more than 15,000 vehicles each day, which is set to increase to 30,000 over the next 20 years,” Mr Pitt said.

“We are thrilled to deliver this vital safety upgrade for all road users as part of our commitment to supporting growth in Queensland's regions.

“Connecting communities and meeting the needs of our growing state is central to our productivity and efficiency, especially as the Warrego Highway is a vital connection between the rich agricultural lands and resource regions of Western Queensland through to the Port of Brisbane.

“This upgrade provides an improved level of service as traffic numbers grow on the highway west of Toowoomba to Charlton.”

Federal Member for Groom John McVeigh said the works were undertaken as part of the Warrego Highway Upgrade Programme, which involves 15 projects designed to upgrade the highway between Toowoomba and Miles by mid-2019.

“Completion of Stage 1 is the first step in the larger upgrade programme being jointly funded by the Australian and Queensland Governments,” Dr McVeigh said.

“Work on designing the second stage of the Toowoomba to Oakey upgrade—which will include lane duplications between Charlton and Kingsthorpe—is underway.

“Major construction works on Stage 2 are expected to start early in 2017.”

The $635 million Warrego Highway Upgrade Program is jointly funded with the Australian Government contributing up to $508 million and the Queensland Government contributing up to $127 million.